Friends Only: Ukraine Features Global Music Stars
Tell me who your friend is, and I'll tell you who you are – an ancient proverb that still eloquently reflects various life processes. Does it apply to creativity as well? Probably, it seems so.
The global musical experience is built on the exchange of creative ideas, and what better way to embody an idea than through personal participation in the result. The Ukrainian contemporary scene has been traveling to foreign studios or inviting guests lately. Since the 2000s, these processes have become much easier thanks to the internet, but the real complexity remains the same – finding a creative counterpart and making a personal contribution to world culture, making it international.
Massive Attack and Okean Elzy
The main group in the trip-hop genre, Massive Attack performed in Kyiv in 2018. It was during that time that the frontman of the group, Robert 3D Del Naja, had the opportunity to meet with the frontman of the most popular Ukrainian indie-rock group, which, in almost 30 years of existence, has come a long way from a student group in Lviv to the stadiums of Eastern Europe.
"I first met Slava Vakarchuk in 2018 when we played our concert in Kyiv. We resumed communication when the invasion of Ukraine began. Last year, I returned to Ukraine with Giles Duli to see firsthand the destruction inflicted on the country, Kyiv, and its surroundings during a year-long Russian armed aggression. The main purpose of this collaboration is to express an act of civic solidarity with the people of Ukraine and provide material assistance to those who need it most," said Robert Del Naja.
Robert's visit to Kyiv also coincided with the appearance of seven graffiti by the artist Banksy in Kyiv and the suburbs, which suffered from Russian aggression. This only confirmed long-standing rumors about the identity of the mysterious graffiti artist.
The "Obiymy (Legacy of War Mix)" version was released in early March 2023 on Robert Del Naja's own label "Battle Box," ten years after the original.
Deep Forest and Onuka
The history of the creative alliance between the world's most famous project in the ethnic electronic genre, Deep Forest, and the Ukrainian folktronic project, which gained worldwide fame after performing at Eurovision, is much longer than the 5-minute track "Vsesvit" (Universe).
The Grammy owner of 1995, Deep Forest, inspired Nata Zhizhchenko, a singer who sublimated her rich creative path into the performance of Onuka since school years. "For me, Deep Forest is a religion from childhood," Nata confessed in an interview. But in reality, Nata and Deep Forest co-author Éric Mouquet did not meet in a designated place but spontaneously, at a festival site in the Carpathian Mountains in 2017.
"I was afraid to meet him — an old man who received a Grammy. But Eric did not confirm this fear at all. He is Gandalf, a wizard, to me. He has such harmony; I missed him so much when he left — I never missed friends like that," she recalls.
But then Mouquet returned, already to Kyiv, to the studio, where he produced a track in his style for his devoted fan, adding a warmer, ethnic sound to the Onuka project.
Bedouin and DakhaBrakha
Well-known to visitors of the trendiest dance floors in the world, the American duo Tamer Malki and Rami Abousabe, known as Bedouin, broadcast their romantically filled contemporary view of dance culture from the East. Bedouin's experimental approach to studio work has been very relevant to the work of the quartet from Kyiv, which has been one of the most famous examples of Ukrainian musical exports for over 10 years.
Throughout its existence, DakhaBrakha has attracted globally known musicians, such as Finnish accordion revolutionary Kimmo Pohjonen, Polish sound experimenter Karbidio, or Brazilian studio wizard Tiago Monteiro. In the spring of 2022, a record of dance versions of four compositions processed by Bedouin was released. It allowed adding dance floors and club charts to concert halls and festivals and became a collector's item for avid DJs.
Brodinski and Alina Pash
If you plunge into the colorful world of modern hip-hop, it might seem too complicated to figure out, but colleagues in the quality of rapping and poets quickly find themselves by the accuracy of rhyming. The rapper and DJ from the French city of Reims, Brodinski, boldly set out to build a career in a country where there are still the most rappers per square meter in the world.
In Atlanta, his achievements, such as the award for the video "Can't help myself" at the Berlin Music Video Awards 2015, had an impact, and several tours in North America confirmed his talent. How and where exactly the talented Frenchman met the Ukrainian rapper, who can easily combine Transcarpathian slang with an east coast vibe, is unknown.
"It feels like everybody tries to copy,
tries to be like Ri or Cardi.
They tied like people in a chain gang.
But I prefer to use my slang" – with such a statement, Alina, with her French friend, ironically entered the American stage. The result of the collaboration gained considerable streaming listens and even became a hallmark of the album "Amerikraine Dream" in 2020.
Benny Benassi & Bloom Twins
In the summer of 2002, Italian DJ and producer Benny Benassi shamelessly wrote about himself, "I divided the history of electronic music into 'before' and 'after' Benny Benassi." This happened through the scorching hit "Satisfaction," which vaguely resembled a reference to the Rolling Stones was more akin to the sound of drills and jackhammers. Just like in the famous video where model beauties in helmets and special gear crush the environment with construction tools.
This carte blanche allowed, and still probably allows, the studio entrepreneur to exist quite well, occasionally adding his commercial talent to the talents of musicians. For example, in 2008, his remix of Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise" won an award at the 50th Grammy Awards.
The Ukrainian contribution to his discography is a collaboration with the fashion twin duo from the outskirts of Kyiv, who have long conquered London. Anna and Sonia Kuprienko, known as Bloom Twins, tour with Duran Duran, grace the pages of Vogue and ID fashion magazines, and in spring 2022, they organized the Night for Ukraine gala concert with Secret Cinema's creative director, Fabien Riggall. 'Daydream' also became a notable achievement, garnering millions of views on YouTube and numerous rotations on club dance floors worldwide.
Pink Floyd and Boombox
Fans of the most influential band of the 20th century carried their love into the next era. Although, unfortunately, the band could not reciprocate, the only album released after the 2000s, "The Endless River," was perceived by many fans as a result of resting on laurels.
After this case, Pink Floyd seemingly definitively ceased studio work together and moved into the status of personal projects. For the band's leader, David Gilmour, one of these creative performances was a collaboration with the Ukrainian group Boombox in support of Belarusian theater actors. In 2015, they performed together the iconic "Wish You Were Here" for BBC viewers.
Seven years later, friendship reminded itself.
When on February 24, 2022, full-scale Russian army invasion of Ukraine began, Boombox halted preparations for the U.S. tour. Vocalist Andriy Khlyvnyuk replaced the microphone stand with a rifle and joined the ranks of territorial defense. Three days later, he sang an a capella version of the first verse of the Ukrainian anthem "Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow" and posted it on Instagram.
This song resonated with Ukraine and the whole world. Impressed by the video where the singer, leaning on an automatic weapon, against the backdrop of the Sophia of Kyiv, gives hope to the nation, David Gilmour called Nick Mason, Pink Floyd's drummer. They decided to gather in the studio again.
The possibility of using the acapella for a future composition was discussed over the phone between David and Andriy, who, after being wounded by a mine explosion, was in the hospital. On March 30, Pink Floyd gathered in Gilmour's home studio, adding for the first time the star composer and producer Nitin Sawhney to the lineup. On the same day, a video was shot where the band played against projections of Andriy's video, performances by the Veriovka choir, and paintings by Maria Pryimachenko.
"Hey, Hey, Rise Up!" entered history on April 6, 2022, took 5th place in the British chart, and was released as a collector's 7-inch record. All proceeds from the single's sale, with the hope of a band that had not given hope for new creativity since 2014, were sent to the Ukraine Humanitarian Relief Fund.